Welcome to the Running in Cork blog, home of the Cork running community. This is the largest website in Cork & Munster for news on road races and athletics. Included are a current race calendar, race previews, photos, results as well as some local, national and international news items.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

The Munster Masters Cross Country Championships were held this year in Cappawhite, Co.Tipperary in what can only be described as pretty awful conditions. With all the rain, the course really got churned up and it was a sea of mud in places.

In the womens O35 team category, Mallow AC took Gold with Midleton AC taking Silver in the O45 team event. The Cork teams won both categories.

In the mens O35 team event, East Cork AC and Leevale AC renewed their old rivalry with the smaller club coming out on top this time. In the O50 team event, Youghal AC took Silver with Midleton AC taking Bronze. The Cork teams won the O35 inter-county event while they finished 3rd in the O50 section.

A total of 206 runners turned out for this years 4 mile race in Glenville on Sunday the 29th of November. This was down on the 254 of 2014 but understandable considering the wet and windy conditions. It was unfortunately just one of those weekends.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Just a quick note to say that the RNLI Reindeer Run in Fota House and Gardens has been cancelled due to the weather forecast.

Update...This will now take place on Sunday the 24th of January 2016.

From the organisers...Reindeer Run Cancelled.

We are sorry to inform you that we have taken the decision to cancel tomorrow’s RNLI Reindeer Run in Fota House and Gardens. We have made this decision based on Met Eireann’s Status Orange Wind Warning, which is forecasting winds of up to 130km/h during the hours of 6am – 3pm tomorrow.

The Reindeer Run is a family friendly event with participants of all ages due to take part. With this in mind and with the threat of high winds and falling trees, the organisers felt it would not be safe to proceed with the event. While we are disappointed to make this decision we have done it with the interests of the safety of all our participants paramount in our minds. It is hoped that in communicating this decision tonight that we can reach all the participants in time before they travel to the event tomorrow.

We hope to reschedule the event, and will be in touch with you shortly with further details. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of the RNLI Reindeer Run.

The Donal Ahern Memorial 5k charity run was held on the grounds of Blarney Castle on Sat 28th Nov 2015 on what was a pretty miserable day. As can be seen from the photos in the galleries, at times it was ok but there were no shortage of heavy showers.

121 hardy souls turned out for the 5k parkrun in Tramore Valley Park in Cork City on Saturday the 28th of November in what were pretty dreadful conditions. Considering there was a 5k charity run in Blarney later in the morning, it's perhaps suprising that the numbers were as high as they were. Maybe it marks a floor for the numbers for this event? Time will tell.

Friday, November 27, 2015

It was recently announced that a new 5k parkrun will be starting in Limerick on Saturday the 12th of December 2015. As you can see from the map below, this will be the ninth parkrun to start up in Munster.

The Limerick parkrun will take place every Saturday morning at 9:30am at the University of Limerick Rowing Club on the grounds of UL. More info on the event website.

I wonder if there are any more in the pipeline? There are talks of one in Glengarrif in West Cork. An obvious place for one might be in Waterford City? As can be seen from the map above, there is an obvious gap stretching from North Kerry across to Waterford.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

The annual Antarctic Marathon was held last weekend with over 50 runners from 19 countries taking part in the event. With the temperature down around minus 20 deg C, those taking part were wrapped up in balaclavas, goggles, mittens and various layers of thermal clothing. The course comprised two laps around the Union Glacier exploration camp. There were several rehydration stops on route with hot drinks, snacks as well as comfort stations.

For anyone interested, there is a free sports nutrition workshop at the Teagasc facility at Moorepark, Fermoy on Wednesday the 9th of December 2015. This is just off the M8 motorway so access is very easy as the slip road is just a few hundred metres away.

Schedule for the evening: Presentations & Discussions with presenters and a panel of sports personalitiesBiology of Fitness covering a discussion on obesity, fitness and dietsDr. Niall Moyna, School of Health and Human Performance from DCUIntroducing nutritional concepts to Children and AdolescentsDr. Sharon Madigan, DBSM Health Centre of Excellence‘What does all of this have to do with Teagasc?’Dr. Paul Cotter, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark

View stands highlighting Teagasc and UCC expertise in the area of Food for Health and meet the scientists who do the work. For further information please contact niamh.obrien@teagasc.ie or Niamh O’Brien at 025 42313

One of the stories doing the rounds over the last week was how Seamus Cawley, a runner from Rathkeale in Co.Limerick had a bit of good fortune recently with a win in the National Lottery. It turns out that Seamus was part of a ten person syndicate working at the Kerry Group Cheese Strings production line in Charleville, Co Cork and they each get €388,375.60.

Seamus who is a member of West Limerick AC is a regular at many of the road races in Limerick & Cork and has clocked up about 50 marathons to date. He has run all 36 Dublin City Marathons and ran the last of the old Cork marathons in 1986 in a time of 2:35:46.

In an interview with the Irish Mirror, Seamus said he intends spending some of his winnings on his daughter's college fees, and going to Los Angeles to run the marathon there.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

The Athletics Ireland Inter-Clubs Cross Country Championships were held in Santry, Dublin on Sunday the 22nd of November. While a lot of cross country races have small fields and a lack of teams, this one was almost the complete opposite with most of the best Irish runners taking part.

In the womens race, Leevale AC from Cork were very much to the fore with Lizzie Lee finishing in second place overall and leading the team to first place. This is I believe the first time that the Leevale AC womens team have won this particular title.

L-R...Nollaig O'Neill 31st (winner of the 2015 Cork City Marathon), Niamh Roe 43rd, Lizzie Lee 2nd (probably on her way to the Olympics in Rio with a qualifying marathon time, Michelle Finn 6th (also with a Olympic qualifying time but in the 3000m steeplechase, Sinéad O Connor 21st & Claire McCarthy 22nd (finished 2nd in the National marathon in 2013)

Another team that put in a fine performance was An Ríocht AC from Castleisland in Kerry. While they are a much smaller club compared to some of the others, they still finished in second place with 108 pts.

While much of the attention will focus perhaps on some of the more well known names, one name to watch for the future is that of Shona Heaslip from Kerry.

Shona only started running in the last few years having been more involved in Irish dancing when she was a teenager. She only turned 21 years old last September and in this race, she finished just behind Laura Crowe and ahead of some of the other well known Irish names. She is certainly on an upward curve at the moment and could be a serious contender for some championship medals in the next few years.

In the mens event, Clonliffe Harriers just edged out Leevale AC to take the first spot. East Cork AC finished 6th.

Links to the full results can be found on the Athletics Ireland website HERE.

Photos...1) Seamus McDaid has a gallery HERE2) David Bradshaw has two galleries... Mens Race ... Womens Race3) As always, Kieran Carlin of Finn Valley AC has some great photos HERE4) West Waterford AC have a gallery HERE

Saturday, November 21, 2015

After the cancellation and flooding of last week, this weeks 5k parkrun in Tramore Valley Park in Cork City attracted 164 runners. That's the lowest to date and perhaps a sign that the numbers are beginning to level off into a longer term pattern.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Born in 1929 in Tramore, Co.Waterford, Jack Dowling had a tough childhood having been placed in an orphanage at the age of 5 and later in an industrial school. As an adult, he moved to Sheffield in England in the 1950's to work in the coal mines. While there, he took up running at a local athletics club and then made the switch to race walking, a sport in which he flourished.

He became famous in France for his success in the Paris – Roubaix race walking challenge and walked in the Race of the Century , a 1,000 mile event in New York in 1988. He is also one of very few ‘centurions’ , race walkers who have completed more than 100 miles in a competition in under 24 hours.

He also made history back in 1982 when he race walked the length of Ireland from Malin to Mizen. After starting on the 18th of March at Malin Head, he finished in darkness at Mizen Head in West Cork on the morning of the 24th of March. He had race walked under supervision the 644km (400.2 miles) in five days, 22 hours and 30 minutes. That's an incredible 60-70 miles per day.

Here are a few of his records:
* 1,000 miles * 1000 kilometres * 1500 kilometres * 3 day track record
* 6 day track record * 100 miles in less than 24hrs (completed over 70 times)
* Won 1st ever British Veteran 10 k Championship road walk
* Roubaix 28hr race. 1st person to complete 10, 15 and 20 times
* 5 x Rouen 24hr race, at which the best distance was 207 kilometres
* Entries in the Guinness Book of Records

He has also completed the John 'o' Groats to Lands End and is the only person ever to race walk end to end on both Islands.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

At the Bangkok Half-Marathon last weekend, runners got more than they bargained for when a mistake by a race official added 4 miles to the 13.1 mile course.

Organised by the Jogging Association of Thailand, this 17 mile 'ultra' half-marathon "admitted that a technical error happened during the half-marathon event".They said that race officials responsible for pointing runners in the right
direction inadvertently directed them to make a U-turn at the wrong
place.

The Athletic Association of Thailand, which oversees athletic events in the country said...“It added more than 3km [1.8 miles] to each lap,
therefore more than 6km were added to the whole half-marathon. We have rebuked the association but we could not do
anything else.”

The event’s Facebook page was filled with comments afterwards from runners who described the error as “ridiculous”, a “massive miscalculation” and “incredibly dangerous” for runners who had trained to run just 13 miles.

Others joked...“Hey, they increased the price this year, so you get more kilometres for your money.”

Monday, November 16, 2015

It sounds like a headline from 20 years ago but this time around, it's Sonia O'Sullivan's daughter Sophie who is on a winning streak. At some recent Schools Championships in Victoria, Sophie has been winning a number of races in the U15 category.

Earlier this year in July, there were a number of high profile races on the athletics track in Letterkenny, Co.Donegal including a steeplechase race where three Irish women qualified for the Olympic Games...Kerry O'Flaherty, Michelle Finn & Sara Treacy.

Fast forward to November and the track is now under water. The photo below shows the Danny McDaid Track at the Aura Leisure Centre in Letterkenny and what it used to look like...(notice the yellow arrow on the left)...

This is the view from where the yellow arrow is after all the recent rain...

Whether its just need some cleaning or if there is more longer term damage remains to be seen. If the water gets under the track surface then they could be in right trouble.

One of the big cross country races last weekend was the annual British & Irish Masters Cross Country Championship which was held in Dublin this year. In among the large contingent of Irish athletes, there was a few from Cork with some wearing an Irish singlet for the first time.

Medals for Carmel Parnell & Carmel Crowley. Photo:Gearóid Ó Laoi

British & Irish Masters Race 1...Women/M65,70,75 XC
In the first race, it was a case of the two Carmels. Carmel Crowley of Bandon AC won an individual Bronze in the W45 category and a team Gold. In the W60 section, Carmel Parnell of Leevale AC took an individual Gold and a team Silver. This was I believe the 10th year that Carmel has won her category in this competition, an amazing achievement and a new record for the British & Irish Masters XC event.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

204 runners turned out for this Cork BHAA 5k race in Little Island on Sunday the 15th of November. The morning was pretty dreary although it was more of a case of it actually looking worse than it actually was. The numbers were down a bit of what might be expected so maybe the weather turned off a few people? On the other hand, the numbers were up on the 186 at the start of the month when they had a 5k at the Marina.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Sinead Kane who is from Youghal in Co.Cork today completed the Volcano Marathon in Chile in South America. This is one of the most grueling marathons on the continent with a start altitude of 4,475 metres (14,682 feet). That's no too far off the height of Mt.Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe so the thin air is a major factor. With the clear skies and dry conditions, it makes for a really hard challenge.

Sinead's time was just over 8 hours. To put that in perspective, the first man finished in 4h 42m.

Sinead's guide on this occasion was John O'Regan who is an Irish International Ultra-Runner.

Back in July of this year, Sinead completed the Belfast 12 hour race for her longest ultra to date.

There are three main stores in Cork City that cater for runners...John Buckley Sports, Edge Sports and Mahers Sports.

It was announced today that Elvery Sports are now taking over the Mahers Sports shop on Olivier Plunkett Street.

In a statement on Facebook, Mahers Sports said the following..."After 40 event filled years of trading in Cork it is with enormous pride that Mahers Sports announce we will become part of Elverys-Intersport. Eleverys will be taking over the business plus sales and store staff, so our much appreciated customers will still be able to enjoy the relationship you may have forged with our staff over the years.

Business will continue as normal in store, with Elverys also honouring all Mahers Sports gift vouchers and credit notes.

We wish to sincerely thank all of our customers and sales staff, as they have contributed the most of the success of Mahers. By way of appreciation we would like to invite our customers to avail of 25% off for the month of November in store and online. We hope you will warmly welcome Elverys to Oliver Plunkett St. and will support them in an exciting future for further developing Cork city centre retail."

This one might be of interest to anyone with young families or want to take part in a fun event while helping out the RNLI. There is a 5km Reindeer Run in Liss Ard Estate near Skibbereen on Sunday the 22nd of November and another one on the grounds of Fota House on Sunday the 29th of November.

Update...The rescheduled Reindeer Run in Fota will take place on Sunday the 24th of January 2016.

From the RNLI......World champion Derval O’Rourke launches two RNLI Reindeer Runs in Cork

The RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea, has joined forces with World champion and European sprint hurdle medalist Derval O’Rourke to launch two RNLI Reindeer Runs in County Cork.

RNLI crew members Stephen Hurley from Union Hall RNLI, Liam Harty from Helvick Head RNLI, Martin Morris from Youghal RNLI and Shane Hurley from Union Hall RNLI (front) pictured with World champion Derval O’Rourke at the launch of the RNLI Reindeer Runs which will take place in Fota House and Gardens and Liss Ard Estate.

The three time Olympian athlete and author joined volunteer lifeboat crew from Cork to kick-start the festivities for the upcoming reindeer runs which will take place later this month. The events will be held at Liss Ard Estate in Skibbereen on Sunday 22 November and Fota House and Gardens outside Cobh on Sunday 29 November.

Due to the popularity of the reindeer run at Fota House which is now in its fourth year, the charity has introduced an extra venue at Liss Ard Estate. The stunning 200-acre site in West Cork is located close to the RNLI’s newest lifeboat station at Union Hall which was established on a trial basis in September last year.

Derval was joined by Union Hall RNLI crew members and Castlehaven GAA brothers Shane and Stephen Hurley, Helvick Head RNLI crew member Liam Harty and Youghal RNLI crew member Martin Morris.

Born and raised in County Cork where the RNLI has eight lifeboat stations, RNLI supporter Derval, is familiar with the charity’s lifesaving work: ‘Living in Cork, I am all too aware of the search and rescue work the RNLI carries out around the coast and of the commitment of its lifeboat crews who dedicate themselves to regular training and to responding to their pagers at any time of the day or night.

‘Having experienced the festive spirit at an RNLI reindeer run for the first time last year, I am delighted to see that the event is going from strength to strength and that the RNLI has introduced an additional venue for West Cork. These events are a great way for us to build in some exercise into what can be a hectic season while showing our support for our lifeboat crews as they continue to save lives at sea.’

Looking forward to the first reindeer run at Liss Ard Estate which begins at 10.30am, Stephen Hurley from Union Hall RNLI said: ‘We have had a busy first year in Union Hall and have been overwhelmed by the goodwill shown by the people of West Cork and much further afield.

‘Last year, RNLI lifeboats in Cork launched 163 times, bringing 218 people to safety. While the figures show that our lifeboat crews are busy all year round, some of our most challenging call outs will occur over the winter months. However, having the support of people who so generously fundraise and sign up to take part in events such as the reindeer run, means that we can avail of first class training and equipment and be ready to answer the call and help someone in need when our pagers go off.’

The second reindeer run in Cork takes place on Sunday, 29 November at Fota House and Gardens, starting at 10.30am.

All abilities and ages are catered for with participants choosing from a 5km or 10km walk/run or a shorter Santa Saunter. Registration is now open online at rnli.org/reindeer and costs €20 for the 5K and €22 for the 10K. Children’s tickets are €10 and a family ticket (two adults and two children) is €55. All participants in the 5K and 10K will receive an RNLI Reindeer Run t-shirt, a pair of antlers and a car sticker.

Key facts about the RNLI.....The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the Ireland and the UK. The RNLI operates over 230 lifeboat stations with 44 in Ireland. The RNLI is independent of the Coast Guard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 137,000 lives. The RNLI is a charity registered in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Charity number CHY 2678 in the Republic of Ireland and registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SCO37736)

Additional Info...This is the approx route for the event in Fota.

While the route isn't the exact same of the Rebel Run4Fun 5k which was held there last August, much of it is the same. You can see some photos of that route HERE which should give you a good idea of what it's like.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

As many of you will have seen and heard, the running and athletics media news sources have been full of details of the doping scandal in athletics. A report from WADA...the World Anti-Doping Agency...found that the Russian state was behind an elaborate doping system in the country. Add to this the fact that the French police are investigating Lamine Diack, the former head of the IAAF...the governing body for
international athletics.... then the whole sport comes under the spotlight.

There was a good radio programme on BBC Radio about the scandal (1h 18m)... HERE
It's obvious from listening to it that there is a lot more to come out yet with some countries like Kenya and Jamaica coming under suspicion.

The current IAAF president Seb Coe doesn't come out of this looking too good either as he was the Vice-President for the last seven years.

How it relates to Rob Heffernan.......At the Olympics in London in August of 2012, Sergei Kirdyapkin won the
Gold medal in the 50km walk. Rob Heffernan finished 4th in the same
event.

Kirdyapkin was subsequently found to have been doping so the Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA announced back in January of 2015
that he would be banned for three years and two months from 15.10.2012,
with the cancellation of the results of the July 20, 2009 - September
20, 2009, June 29, 2010 - August 29, 2010 December 17, 2011 - June 11,
2012.

Needless to say, the Russians were cherry picking the ban dates so that he could keep his medals which is a farce. In March of 2015, the IAAF said they were not accepting this and they have filed an
appeal with the Court of Arbitration (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. If that appeal is upheld then the Russian should be stripped of his Gold and Rob Heffernan will be upgraded to Bronze.

Back to the WADA report. This is what it said about Kirdyapkin and the IAAF....

Sample 11 was taken on 10 August 2012 during the Olympic Games, one day before the 50 km walk event won by Mr. Kirdyapkin. The period between April to May 2012 was considered to be abnormal (samples nine and ten) as the athlete’s haemoglobin concentration increased by almost 30 g/L in less than one month. Sample nine showed slightly elevated reticulocytes, which is suggestive of stimulated erythropoiesis (but low haemoglobin value), while sample ten showed a high and abnormal haemoglobin level (161 g/L). In addition, samples nine and ten were taken in the lead up to a major competition in Saransk.It was also considered possible by one of the ABP expert panel members that the athlete withdrew his blood in January and/or April 2012 and then re-infused it in May 2012. This hypothesis was raised by two of the ABP expert panel members, one of whom proposed that the increase in haemoglobin values from early 2012 (126-132 to 16 g/L) was suggestive of the use of autologous blood collection and reinfusion in preparation for the Olympic Games. However, despite clear and problematic abnormalities in Mr.Kirdyapkin’s ABP in the period leading up to the London 2012 Olympic Games, he was nevertheless allowed to compete. Although the ABP expert panel provided its opinion in October and November 2012, the results of the abnormal samples mentioned above would have been known to the IAAF prior to the Olympic Games.

As you can see, the WADA report says Kirdyapkin shouldn't have even been competing due to his blood values let alone win a medal.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday his organisation would continue to apply a zero-tolerance policy to doping, and that Olympic medals would be withdrawn from any Russian athlete named in the Wada report who is found guilty of doping.

The big race this evening is of course the Run in the Dark 5k & 10k in Cork City and in several other locations around the country. After a dismal Monday and Tuesday, the weather has finally cleared up and it's looking pretty good for this evening.

There is always a chance of a shower but it looks good. There will be a good south-westerly breeze but it should ok as there is plenty of shelter from the tall buildings.

This is the course for the race...2 laps for the 5k and 4 for the 10k.

The 2000 or so places for Cork sold out last week so it should be pretty packed at the start.

There are lots of other pop-up Run in the Dark around the world as well. Sonia O'Sullivan was involved in the one in Melbourne, Australia which took place earlier today.

Just a note to mark the passing of Willie Joe Shine (Boherbue) who died over the weekend. Willie was a scoring member of the Cork team that won the all-Ireland Cross Country Championships in 1963 and Junior in 1961. He was a member of Meelin AC who won Senior Cork Cross County Championships three years in a row in 1960, 1961 & 1962 and 2nd in 1963.

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'If you want to win something, run 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run a marathon' - Emil Zatopek, Winner of the 5k, 10k and Marathon, Helsinki Olympics, 1952 and broke the existing Olympic record in each event.